168 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



the nearest, a great female, who was up to her knees 

 in mud and slush. Close to her was a bull, who 

 seemed to be supporting her, for he was leaning full 

 against her ; the others were massed together on either 

 side and behind. There was no time to waste ; any 

 moment now and a puff of wind the wrong way would 

 reveal my presence and my chance would be gone ; 

 so I prepared to aim at the bull, a huge fellow, look- 

 ing in my direction with wicked little eyes. These were 

 not Zoo elephants, but the most colossal beasts in 

 the world, in a perfectly wild state. Oh, the flies 1 how 

 I wished they would keep away for a moment while 

 I drew my bead-sight upon a vital spot, for I was 

 in no mood to face a fierce wounded elephant in a 

 dense jungle. Now for it ! Bang ! What on earth 

 is happening? The yelling, the crashing, the rumbling 

 of Mother Earth, elephants tearing up the saplings, 

 elephants smashing down the trees, elephants racing 

 hither and thither in wildest confusion ! I could only 

 stand quite still and try to keep ' all there ' until 

 I could make out what had happened. 



Gradually the din ceased and the elephants were 

 in full career a few hundred yards away, and some 

 men came creeping up to me all of a shake to see 

 if there were any pieces left. I assured them I was 

 all right, and asked where the wounded elephant was, 

 for I now saw that it had not fallen dead, as it would 

 have done had the aim been correct for the brain 

 shot ; but they had no information to give me. We 

 pulled ourselves together, and set off after the herd, 

 hoping to come up with the wounded one. We 

 soon found that they had stopped about a quarter of 

 a mile away, and we were not long in coming up with 



